"...made by Toshi-sensei for a commission that came to him from the Nobel prize committee in the mid 1980-s. They wanted to have some special items honouring Kawabata Yasunari, who had previously been awarded the prize for literature... One day he brought something to show us – the letter that he had received from the Prize Committee commissioning the works; he was quite proud of the fact that no price had been set – this was completely up to his own discretion." David Bull